Rants and Chants

The past three days at Northwestern College have been an absolute blast.  The team has just welcomed us in way that has made the girls feel right at home.   

Thursday: 

On Thursday they had a campus tour.  This was a really neat experience.  I feel like it opened up the girls eyes that college could be a realistic option for some of these girls.  I think the walls of poverty often leaves the girls thinking that college is not even a possibility.  That afternoon, a pool party was organized with a lot of the NW players.  The girls had a great time playing with the other players and it helped to release some of their nerves.

Friday & Saturday:

The girls had a really great team competing against many different teams over the course of Friday and Saturday.  They got to face a lot of tough competition and by the end of the day Saturday, they were back to being themselves.  Those girls love to talk trash, be funny and get super competitive… I’m just thankful the other teams don’t understand Spanish!

Low Lights So Far

·      Loreidy sprained her ankle the first day and won’t be able to participate in camp/games for at least a week. Pray for quick recovery.

·      Some girls have started to feel homesick

Highlights

·      Watching my girls do their crazy chants… and then watch the American girls watch them in bewilderment

·      My parents surprised us with a visit on Saturday.  They were at a family reunion out west and stopped by on their way home.  So they were able to see some games and join us for night activities.

·      The girls were able to spend some time with a guy named Edwin.  Edwin grew up in the DR and by God’s soverign power, allowed him to come study and graduate from Northwestern College.  He shared his story that inspired everyone to trust God’s power and that with a lot of hard work and determination, anything is possible.  It really shoed the girls that a college education is actually possible. 

·      Watching the Northwestern players and coaches pour out into my girls.  They have been very intentional in playing with the girls, joining in their crazy games and getting to know them.  I’m excited to watch those relationships develop even more as the girls will start a High Performance Skills  on Monday!

Thank you for all your prayers! For some reason, the only thing that works on the internet is my gmail, so if you want to get a hold of me, contact my email or call my phone.  We should have another video for ya after the volleyball camp by Wednesday or Thursday! 

Up, Up, and Away!

Adventure Part One: You Will NOT Be Traveling Today

Well, so far things started out a bit rough.  On Monday, I sent my assistant down to the airport to get all the forms and to confirm that all the documents we had were correct and ready. Affirmative.   However, this morning, when we approached our last checkpoint, we were asked for our parent permission slips. Again, affirmative.  Months ago, I had gotten legalized permission slips and had them ready.   Despite my “good” preparation, they did not have the correct certification.  So when I asked the woman, “Okay what do we need to do?”  She said, “well, your group is not traveling today.  Each of you need to get each parent to travel to Santiago and get the $75 permission slips and then come back and get on the evening fight. “ Not good.  Many parents live far away and it would have been nearly impossible to get them together again in Santiago.  The worst part of it all is that we most likely would have to pay some sort of fee to get new flights.  Trying to keep my cool (because I’m supposed to be the calm and collected adult right?),  we asked to speak with the manager (or whatever they are called), and finally we were given permission to pass if my director agreed to go to Santiago with the parents.  We also had to pay the $825 dollars to get the form signed.  I am thankful to be a part of an organization that is so supportive and I know will do any leg work that needs to be done DR side over the next couple days.  Thanks SI. 

So, after running to catch the plane, we sat down with a sigh of relief.  Luckily the stress didn’t take away from the excitement of the girls.

Adventure Part Two:  Marathon Exercise

Once we got off the plane in Miami, we had to print to make our next flight to DFW.  It was slightly nerve racking to split up with the girls because they had to go through a different set of customs.  I was super thankful to have Miriam.  She is a Dominican woman who is also a missionary with SI that also is serving as a chaperon on the trip.  Anyways, long story short, I am now sitting still wet with sweat because we ran here and got on just as they were closing the door.  I really hope I don’t have anything eventful to report on our last leg from DFW to OMA, Nebraska!

Adventure Part Three:  Yo Quiero Taco Bell

The coach from Northwestern College picked us up from the airport and then we got to enjoy a Walmart and then the classic Taco Bell for dinner!  Two of the girls were feeling sick afterwards… so maybe Taco Bell wasn’t the best idea for their first American meal! 

Here’s some highlights from the eyes of Keysi and Esther (for those of you who don’t speak Spanish, Google translate is the best! 

Lo que fue incomodo para nosotros es que estamos acostumbradas a compartir las comidas  y para mi se veía egoista comer delante de Americanos en el avion y no poder brindarles porque es nuestra comstumbre. Otra cosa extrana fue que la mayoria de las personas no hablablan, usaban sus computardoras y su cellular  u otro obejeto tecnologico.

Cuando llegamos a Miami notamos todas las  comunidades que podíamos ver del avión ocupaban un cuadro especifico y eran todos iguales, esto quiere decir que hay una buena organización.  También al  presentarse  el problema que Coach Jessica planteo  tuvimos que correr casi todos todo los pasillos del aeropuerto desviando personas y casi tumbando cosas, esto sucedió porque estábamos retrasadas.  Cuando llegamos a Dallas pudimos notar que el agua se puede tomar de la llave cosa que no hace el dominicano.

Here’s a video of some of our adventures the first day!

Squemish

The girls have been squeamish with excitement for the trip! The neat thing about this trip is that it has allowed me to disguise certain things as "preparation" for the trip.  For example, they have been taking English classes for the past year to help prepare them.  When really, English is a skill they will use for the rest of their lives.  Yesterday, all the varsity girls shared their testimonies to their American team.  It was a beautiful thing as we debriefed with the American girls afterward and they were impacted greatly by the stories of the girls.  We will be doing clinics for kids when we are in the states, so I hope my girls can continue to open their hearts and impact others.  Well, I gotta go.  Last day before the trip! We still have a team here so I gotta finish up with them and finish last minute details!!!

One other note... I do have a issue that I could use some help on.  Remember my visit from the amebas?  I'm having a hard time paying for my time in the hospital.   So. If you are able to donate to my account, that would be a huge relief for me! You can donate online at

https://www.stint.com/donate.php?id=s46594

Or if you want to just send a check to me, I can pay it off that way.  You can send a check to my house and I'll get it when we visit there.  My address is 7328 Ramsdell Rockford MI, 49341


Thanks so much! Hopefully we'll see ya soon!!!

In Bed or in Jail

After a perfectly clean 3 year record of never getting sick (yes… never), I had the unfortunate fate of being attacked by an army of amoebas last Monday after a visit to McDonalds in the capital. Funny how McDonalds would do that.  So what happens when one gets a visit from amoebas (and their eggs)?  Well, I’ll spare you with the details, but it involves trips to the bathroom every 10 minutes, thus dehydration because you can’t keep up with that and then a fever.  After day one of this, my body could not keep up and I had to be taken into the hospital.  I went kicking and screaming because I was not looking forward to staying in the hospitals here.  However, God used my dreaded visit to the hospital to teach me how loyal friends can be and how Dominicans really do care for their sick. 

Within 30 minutes of being taken to the hospital, 8 of my friends were at the hospital to check and see how I was doing.  My 3 roommates argued over who got to sleep with me.  Then the next day is when more of the fun began.  Starting at 7:30am, I was bombarded (or should I say blessed) by visitors.  During the entire day, I maybe had one hour that I was able to take a nap. One highlight of the day? The entire freshman team came screaming into my room after they won their game.  I was thankful too because the cook kept getting mad at me for not eating my cheesy potatoes and the girls helped me out.  At 9:30pm, my amazing intern Courtney and I settled down to watch some Castle thinking, SURELY no one would still come and visit.  False.  I still had 4 more visitors from my panas Moreno and Melvin as well as another one of my freshman girls and her dad at 10:30!

“En la cama o en la carcel se conoce a los amigos.” (In bed or in jail is when one gets to know his friends). One of my friends taught me this phrase after I had expressed how impacted I was by all this visit.  I think this is true about our lives.  When we are “sick” and weak, we can see what friends take the time to pursue us and help us get strong again.  Thanks amoebas for helping learn that lesson. I owe ya.  

Important Visa News:  Tomorrow at 4am, our team departs for the capital to apply for our visas.  Please PRAY that the team will be granted the visas so we can head to the states July 25!!!

We are all geared up for our trip! Thank you so much Jenn Oltoff and all others who help donate so the girls could have new bags, waterbottles, shorts, socks and t-shirts! 

Enjoy some pics of the past couple weeks. 

Courtney working with the hitters 

So, Funny Story: Bethel's basketball team came to the DR to do basketball clinics for the kids.  One stop of their trip was to come to Jarabacoa.  My job was to try to find a game for them.  After calling (and confirming multiple times) with a team from La Vega, I had high hopes that the game would be a success.  As I pulled up to the court to make sure everything was going as planned, my stomach dropped to see 10... women.  Somehow lost is translation, a womens basketball team came instead of a mens team.  However, since living in the DR makes one an expert at plan B... we quick called up our varsity team and we played a volleyball game against the guys!  So fun!

 pre-game chant

Great times. 

            

Quick Fix

This past month  has been one of the most intense months of my three years serving here in the DR.  One of the big lessons I have been learning is that the quick, American way of fixing things doesn’t always apply here. This has been a frustrating lesson to learn, but one that has taught me patience and made me trust in God more as things have not gone “my” way. Also further down, you can see some of the fun parts of this month including the parts of the visit of the Bethel Pilots and a planking video... Dominican Style!

Lesson #1:  Physical Abuse

Keysi is one of our varsity players. You may remember that Keysi shared her testimony in our states video about her biological dad abusing her mom when she was a baby.  What is not mentioned in the video is that since then, she has had a step dad who continues to do the same.  It came to a peak a couple weeks ago when her step dad beat her mom with a glass bottle, resulting in her mom having to get 25 stitches in her head and in her hands.  The more devastating result is watching Keysi try to deal with all this.  Within the 24 hours after the event, Keysi had two violent panic attacks in which me and 4 other friends had to hold Keysi down in order control her fighting limbs.  Keysi blames herself because she wasn’t there to protect her mom. She also blames God for letting this happen to her and her mom.

Quick Fix? 

Of course! Her mom went to follow a police report in La Vega (30 min away).  The police said they would come at 7 that night to arrest him.  Did they?  Nope.  Of course, everything in me wanted to go marching into the police station and get this guy arrested.  However, after talking with other Dominican staff, they all said that if we took that action on Keysi’s behalf, it would end up a lot worse for her in the end.  Even if we got him put in jail for a year or two, he would then come after Keysi.  Does the mom seem to care?  Nope. The other day, Keysi found a text on her mom’s phone addressed to the step dad saying, “Guess what?  Keysi is trying to get you put in jail.”  Real sensitive mom.

Another quick fix?

Yeah, get Keysi out of that home! However, Keysi loves her mom deeply and would never leave her mom alone.  She feels it is her responsibility to protect her mom, despite how insensitive she may be.  Please continue to pray for Keysi and her family.

Lesson #2:  Patience in Visas

Having collected all the paperwork for our visas (which is a ridiculous amount), we applied for our visas three months ago.  We had contacted the embassy numerous times and the responded the same, “we have a long list of people needing group appointments. Just wait.”  Yeah, uh huh. Finally this past week we received our date for our appointment, July 16.  Date of departure: July 25^th. 

Quick fix?

Well in America, all you need is a passport and a flight to get yourself to the DR.  Getting a visa to go to the states can be a nightmare.   For our group of 15 people, we need passports, letters of invitation, detailed itinerary, lawyer issued parent permission slips,  school issued letters of conduct, completed governement form (which takes about 2 hours per girl to fill out), $160 per girl to pay for appointment, and proof of financial support of the trip.  Once you’ve gotten all this information, there is still the possibility that they tell you no.   We have been told that we have a good chance of them granting us the visas because they are minors, female and it’s a sports team.  We were told that we shouldn’t buy flights before the appointment because of this possibility of them saying no.  Well, now since the appointment is so close to our departure date, we are looking into what we can do to get reimbursable flights. If you have any knowledge about that, let me know.  Please be praying that we are granted the visas and the girls do not get too nervous at our appointment.

Fun Updates

In other news, one of my dreams came true a month ago when the Bethel Volleyball team came with an outreach.  They were a huge blessing to me and my girls.

Pilots and varsity before their games in the capital 

Heather sharing her testimony and big sis translating

Pilots with the kids from Corocito

To read their blog about their time here, visithttp://pilotsinthedominican.wordpress.com/

We also had another high school volleyball team come from Chico, California.  It was a really neat thing to have a team that could compete against our varsity team.  In addition, they did a great job in sharing their testimonies and really being examples of what a Christian girl looks like.  Here is a fun video that we put together after they taught the girls the skill of "planking". 

Gringa in the eyes of a dominican

"Coach, are we going to eat rice when we are in the states?  Because I think I might die if I don't have rice and chicken!"

This is one of the many great questions I've been recieving from my girls over the past few months.  As the trip comes closer, the girls get more and more curious of what our time will be like in the US.  A week ago, I planned an activity for the girls to stay with some American families to give them a preview of what there time will be like when they get to the states.  After spending Thursday and Friday night with the families, the girls were BEGGING to stay longer.  At the end, we had some time for reflection. Here are some of their responses of what living with an American is like in the eyes of a Dominican.

Caroly and Lili with their "brothers"

How are American families different?

Esther- They like their desserts! We never desserts after dinner.  We sometimes have sweet foods during the day, but not like the Americans do.

Lili- They always pray before they pray. My family never prays before they eat.

Leslie-They are very united as a family.  They wait  for everyone to come to the table to eat.  My family doesn’t do that.  One person eats at the computer, another in their room and another in front of the tv.

Nana- They eat earlier than my family.  My family always eats after 8.  

Steph- They eat healthier food. My family sometimes eats healthy food.

Keysi- They hang out together.  For example, the parents play with their kids. In my family, my parents never played with us. 

How are the marriages of your “parents” different than the typical Dominicans family?

Shakira- They never argue in front of their kids. Normally here, they yell, go in the road to yell more, throw things, sometimes hit each other.  After that, they just separate from each other.

Steph- The husband actually helps the mom! Here, the man eats and then goes to the couch because these chores are just for women.  When the husband gets home, the food should be ready or almost ready.  If a husband gets home and the woman is watching tv, HA! Get ready because she is going to get yelled at.  “I’m out working and you are here in nothing!

Just to give you an update on the trip, we have been working hard on getting all the paperwork done for the girls visas.  We will go to the American consulate within the next week. Please pray that they grant us the visas. I'll post again when we know the exact date so you can pray EXTRA hard. Thank you for all your support and prayers!

Are we present?

As the teams lined up for the “inauguration” ceremony of the annual semana santa (holy week) volleyball tournament, my stomach dropped.  I looked at all my tiny girls lined up against women my age who had many more years of experience, not to mention many more inches to their tall trained bodies.  “Did I make a mistake in making my girls sign up for this 3-on-3 beach volleyball tournament?  Are they just going to get embarrassed in front of all these people watching, including my boss, his family, and many of my friends? Am I going stand up proud next to my girls as they get a beating in front of almost the entire city of Jarabacoa or will I just sit on the bleachers and cheer them on from the sidelines?  How “present” do I want to be as their coach? 

This is a question that I think most of us have to face.  How present are we in the lives of the ones we love?  I often can get so busy with my own schedule that I forget to be present.  I am not just talking about being there when a friend wants to talk about something.  But really, being present.  Am I so engaged in my girls’ lives that I know what’s going on at home?  What subject are the struggling with in school?  What happened today to my roommate Maggie at school?  I find I often come up short in this area. Anyway... back to the volleyball tournament!

So the Semana Santa volleyball tournament is a 3 day event that people come to from all over the country.  There is a 3-on-3 mens basketball tournament, 11k race, as well as 3-on-3 mens and women’s volleyball tournament.  About one month before the event, I gave my varsity girls two options.  You either run in the race or play in the volleyball tournament.  So we train through March with the special rules of beach volleyball and ready or not, the tournament began last Friday.  The tournament is double elimination. Every game is a quick game to 21. We’ve signed 4 teams up, one from JV, two from varsity, and a team of me, Katie (another missionary from SI and a Dominican friend from La Vega called Sindy. Our team was called San Diego. So as we go through the tournament highlights, I will refer to the teams as JV, Varsity1, Varsity2 and San Diego. Torneo de la Montana… here we come!

DAY 1

JV (Anna, Micah, Stephanie): I give the JV team a pep talk before their game against a team from the capital.  One of the girls already has tears in eyes because of her nerves.  They end up played their hearts out and BEAT the other team. Everyone is going crazy because this was a team that was not expected to win.  So awesome!

Giving JV team a pep talk

Varsity 1 (Lili, Shakira, Dianny): They are matched up against a team from the capital - which had two girls over 5’10 and just jacked. The third is a short chubby girl. (Not politically correct probably, but we’re just stating facts here).  One of the tall girls has played for the junior national team for the DR.  Sweet.   Varsity 1 girls play awesome and outsmart the team and win!

Varsity 2: Gets a buy

San Diego:  Wins their game

Everyone goes on to day 2...

DAY 2

JV: Plays against a strong team from Moca.  San Diego is supposed to play right after so Coach Jess can’t be on the sideline to call a timeout as Moca gets a 8 point streak because she is warming up.  Again, the importance of being present.  Anyways, they end up losing and then face another tough team later and lose.  Still, I was very proud of these girls.  (JV is out)

Varsity 1: Wins one game, loses one… still are qualified to play Sunday.

Varsity 2:  Wins one, qualified to play Sunday.

San Diego:  Wins one, qualified to play Sunday.

DAY 3

Varsity 1:  The moment I’ve dreaded most.  Varsity 1 has to play against San Diego.  Us. Me. Their coach.  Gosh, I’m actually super nervous.  More nervous than I’ve ever been for the other games.   The thing is that even though their small, they are smart players.  Plus, if we lose to them, I’m never going to hear the end of it.  Well, I decide to just pretend they are any other team and play hard. And that’s what we do.  At one point, I even hit one of the smallest girls Lili right in the face. Oops!  Even the commentator said I was an abusadora. Lo siento (sorry).  Varsity 1 later loses again and is now out of the tournament.

Varsity 1: Loreidy, Nana and Leslie

Who’s present now?  About 5 of the 9 girls’ parents have came out to watch the tournament which was super exciting! Many times, parents don’t come to watch the girls play, so this was a big deal.  Also, my roomates and other great friends are totally involved with the games and it was so cool to have them be a part of it.

Varsity 2: Loses their game and is also out of the tournament.

SanDiego: In the Semi-finals, we are matched against 3 pretty tough girls from La Vega.  One girl is about 6’1 and if someone doesn’t slow the ball down… watch out.  With the support of our crazy fans, we end up winning and rest till the finals. 

Keep in mind, the champions of the tournament when 35,000 pesos which is about 900 bucks!!! Side note, for those bethel pilots out there, Mark Lettinga was also playing in the men’s volleyball tournament and they also made it the finals.  Men’s tournament champion team wins 60,000 pesos. (In case I forget to mention it later, Mark’s team won the men’s division).   Yeah the DR hasn’t quite grasped the whole equality of the sexes idea yet. J

So back to the championship game. We play against a team from Moca who has also gone undefeated.  I honestly cannot remember a time I’ve been more pumped up in my life. For real.  After lots of diving, hitting, screaming, heart and sweat… we win the game! But you know what the best part of the game was? Looking back and seeing the entire end line filled with my best friends jumping and screaming throughout the entire game.   They could have been there sitting and clapping, but they did so much more than that. They were literally  jumping around and getting us pumped the entire game.  The beer company “presidente” sponsored the tournament so we won a hat, t-shirt, medal… oh and a presidente beer!  It’s just too bad I don’t like beer. Haha. Luckily, I was able to give it away to one of my crazy fans! J

After the winning point!

So besides watching and being proud of my girls and us winning some sweet cash,  I  was reminded of what it means to be involved in someone’s life.  It’s not about just being present…  its about being so involved that you are sweating, crying, screaming alongside them!  Check out the video on youtube from one of the plays of the championship game and make sure you listen to all the commentary of our incredible friends.

VIDEO:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBBH5ja3pCc